20 years after crash, pilot’s body found in Bolivian Andes

La Paz, Nov 11 (IANS/EFE) The body of a pilot missing for two decades has been recovered from a crash site on a mountain in the Andes near Bolivia’s La Paz city, a media report said.

Benjamin Pabon Galindo’s remains were recovered from Huayna Potosi mountain, where his plane crashed due to mechanical problems. The mountain is located about 25 km from here.

Pabon died in October 1990 while flying a load of beef from the northern region of Beni to La Paz.

The body of the other pilot aboard the plane was recovered in 1997, while Pabon’s remains were located Sunday by climbers hired by his family.

The body was intact with “the clothing and everything”, but it was frozen and broke apart while being pulled out of the pilot’s seat, the crash victim’s father, Carlos Pabon, told the private ATB televsion channel.

The missing aviator was the great-grandson of Rafael Pabon, a hero of the 1932-35 Chaco War and the first fighter pilot in the Americas to win a dogfight in combat.

–IANS/EFE